Now I'd love to get everyone caught up on my most recent adventure--a 5 day 4 night backpacking trek in Torres del Paine National Park in the southern region of Chile known as Patagonia. (no link options on the ipad app--you'll have to google for yourself if you'd like to see maps!) After returning from Tahiti on Friday (2 weeks ago now) I did some organizing of my apartment and packed my backpack to head to Punta Arenas on Sunday.
The goal was to hike "The W," easily the most popular trek in the park. The map here is quite good at explaining the trek in terms of what we hiked each day and where we camped. There is of course one downfall to having such a prescribed route: everyone is doing the same thing. The campsites are overcrowded and sometimes it doesn't really feel like backcountry camping, but the experience was incredible.
Upon arriving in Punta Arenas my first task was to get a bus ticket to Puerto Natales. After snagging the very last one out of town, I walked around Punta Arenas which happens to be situated on the Straight of Magellan. Cool!
The next two nights were spent in Puerto Natales renting gear, buying food, getting advice, and repacking for the 5 days on the trail. This was a small task compared to my experience in the Rockies with the scouts where we were on the trail for 10 days.
On Tuesday morning we took a bus to another bus to a catamaran to get to the trailhead. Here is a view of the Cuernos del Paine from off the back of the catamaran. Beautiful.
All set for the trail! Laura and Elaine met me in Puerto Natales on Monday. I give them serious credit. Neither had done any sort of trip like this before and they were champs.
Day 1: after getting off the catamaran at Paine Grande we hiked to Refugio Grey set right next to Glacier Grey. There is a side hike a little further up the trail to a viewpoint of the glacier shown here. The bright blue ice sounded like thunder when it would break away and fall into the lake.
Day 2: we hiked back down the same valley and continued on to Campamento Italiano. The trails in Torres del Paine were wonderfully marked and well worn. This was a big change from the "trails" in French Polynesia that were sometimes marked with ribbons tied on trees and hadn't been hiked by anyone in months. Both great experiences, but very different.
The views in this park are just unreal. This is a view of the Cuernos over one of the smaller lakes we passed. The colors come from magma that was trapped under the crust millions of years ago (making these mountains some of the "youngest" in the Andes), solidifying metamorphic rock above, and then enduring while all the sediment eroded away around it. Cool.
We crossed some 100 bridges during the trek, a handful of which were suspension bridges like this one heading into Italiano. Pictured is John, my faster-paced hiking buddy from California.
John and I would often move ahead and set up camp before the rest of our trekking group arrived. It allowed for lots of time to relax and hang out, the best parts of camping. Here are Laura and Elaine in our 3 person tent from a Chilean company called Doite. Not the best backpacking tent I've ever used, but it did the job.
Morgan (on the left) and Kiren completed our 6 person group that stuck together for the whole W. They're a part of a group called NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) in the states that takes students on backpacking treks all over the world. Very cool girls and a great organization. Maybe something to do after Chile...?
Day 3: The highlight of the day, and maybe the trek, was a side hike up the French Valley. The diversity of geology in the valley is unbelievable. You start with this giant hanging glacier to the West for the first half of the hike up the valley.
The granite structures surrounding the head of the valley look like they were sculpted by an artist. We spent a solid hour at the viewpoint just staring in awe at the beauty.
The French River is just as interesting as the surrounding mountains. Waterfalls, rock-hopping and swimming opportunities, and giant fallen boulders and ice sheets line the river.
Our first view of Lago Nordenskjöld was striking due to its size and bright green color. At the information session someone asked about the possibility of swimming in the lakes. The response was, "If you're accustomed to 2 degree water, go for it"
So of course I went swimming.
The Cuernos site would have been a great spot if there had been maybe a quarter of the people trying to wrestle for sites. It was really crowded. But it had great gems like this waterfall only steps from camp. The water hits a sidewall with such force that it shoots sideways over to the left.
The sunset over the lake was also very beautiful. The clouds in Torres are crazy in the way they move and play with the sunlight. There was a wood fire hot tub in camp that was probably only intended for the people staying in cabins but we jumped in after sunset and stared at the stars for a while.
Day 4: We woke up to rain which is always a bummer when camping. Hiking with wet gear not only adds weight, it dampens spirits as well. Once again, serious credit to the girls--I was very impressed with their efficiency and attitude regardless of the rain! This day was the longest in terms of hiking. Across the very steep uphill shortcut to Chileno an on to Campamento las Torres.
Just before camp we came across this awesome fallen tree. It spiraled as it split. Very cool. This is a good shot of my pack. The red bag at the bottom is our tent. My sleeping pad is strapped on the side. Inside: sleeping bag, food, clothes, stove, gas. As they taught us in scouts, every ounce counts.
Day 5: Up at 4:30 a.m. The namesake of the park, the Torres del Paine, are best viewed at sunrise, so you wake up at the crack of dawn and start the 1 hour hike up to the viewpoint. It's notoriously cold but we had great weather.
In my finest outdoorsy pose. I brought up everything to make hot chocolate. Good call.
Here's our group! Everyone up at the top waiting for the sunrise.
I kept flipping back and forth between the sunrise to the East and the Torres to the West. Both were spectacular.
Here are the Torres in their famous pink sunrise hue. You can see the shadow off the sunrise running across them.
Here's a complete shot with the lake and metamorphic rock next to the towers.
What a great journey. I loved every minute.
The long hike down after sunrise revealed the reason it's recommended to hike West to East. We saw a lot of very tired people walking the very steep ascent from Hosteria las Torres to the top. Lots of horses packing in gear and supplies as well.
At the bottom we had a few hours to relax until the bus came. We ate our leftover food and rehashed stories from the trek. It was great. Amazing people, amazing scenery, and an altogether unforgettable experience.
W: Complete.
Picture-a-day blogging will start today or tomorrow at the latest! After The W I hopped a bus to Argentina, flew to Bariloche for a few days, and yesterday crossed the Andes back into Chile. I'm on a bus at the moment heading from Puerto Montt to Chiloé. Lots of fun memories to share! Thanks for following along.
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